Super proud of my wife
@farhanarah
!
Her PhD thesis on the
#Rohingya
is shortlisted for the
@AsianStudies
IBP 2023 - Best Dissertation in the Social Sciences: !
AND the thesis-turned-book will be out in 2024 with
@CambridgeUP
! Cover photo taken by her!
Years ago, I was rejected from studying at the LSE. But one needs to keep pushing forward!
Today, I begin at the London School of Economics (
@LSELaw
). I join as Assistant Professor of Socio-Legal Studies starting Sept 2024, first holding a British Academy Fellowship for AY23/24.
Money exchangers & hawalas (money transfers) in
#Afghanistan
may be key in preventing economic collapse, despite both being grossly misunderstood.
My
@ForeignPolicy
piece provides historical background and their role in the Afghan economy. 1/
Happy to have joined the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies
@OxfordCSLS
at Oxford University as a British Academy Postdoctoral Reseach Fellow
@BritishAcademy_
.
Looking forward to many a cup of freshly brewed morning coffees!
I'm honoured to receive the 2022 Article Prize from the
@SLSA_UK
! A real honour to be amongst several distinguished nominees and to receive this recognition from a distinguished socio-legal community.
Now, the article prize! The 2022 SLSA article prize goes to
@nafayc
for 'Order in the Bazaar: The Transformation of Non-State Law in Afghanistan's Premier Money Exchange Market' Law & Social Inquiry (2021)
I am deeply honoured to have received this award! The
@law_soc
stands at the forefront of the interdisciplinary study of law in various social contexts. Receiving this recognition from preeminent socio-legal scholars is immensely humbling and meaningful!
I'm deeply humbled to be the recipient of the Asian Law & Society Association Distinguished Article Award 2022 (
@LSI_Journal
- "Order in the Bazaar")! An honour to receive this recognition from a community whose members I continue to learn from!
See you in Hanoi!
One of the best university workshops I've ever taught. 40+ female and 30+ male students actively engaged in this "Research Writing Workshop" in Kabul.
These students are a real source of inspiration.
This is what decolonizing academia looks like. The reification of high impact journals reinforces the hegemony of ideas and conversations from the global North.
Citing less "prestigious" journal can promote two-way conversations.
NOTE: Less "prestigious" is NOT less "rigorous"
In the coming days, it'll be important to understand the workings of nonstate legal orders in Afghanistan.
My
@LSI_Journal
article involves a study of Afghanistan's central money exchange market and shows the interdependence of state and nonstate laws.
Looking forward to the
#SLSA2023
@SLSA_UK
annual conference this Tues!
Really appreciate the organizer's awareness and support of those fasting during the month of Ramadan - the small details that make a big difference!
Hope to connect with many new and familiar faces!
As the Afghan economy sinks, its money exchangers remain resilient.
In this
@ForeignPolicy
piece, I look at
#Afghanistan
's money exchangers just over a year after the fall of the Republic, based on my recent visit in Sept 2022. 1/
Good morning from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo!
Looking forward to going beyond the veil of economic & political "failure" and seeing how people manage everyday life in the next few weeks (débrouillez-vous!)
In this interview on
@trtworld
's Money Talks, I discuss the dire state of the Afghan economy and banking facilities, highlighting the important role of money exchangers in
#Afghanistan
's central money bazaar, Sarai Shahzada.
Full video here:
Palestinian journalists - as a collective - deserve the Nobel peace prize for being THE information lifeline to the world on the ongoing atrocities, even while fully knowing they - and their FAMILIES - are being openly targeted!
Shame on humanity!
We can’t take it anymore, we’re exhausted… We’re gonna get killed, it’s just a matter of when. There’s no protection, no impunity. These PPEs don’t protect us. Nothing protects journalists. We lose lives, one by one… Mohammed Abu Hatab was here, half an hour ago.
Was an amazing event! It's important for people supporting Palestinian humanity to know they're not alone. People everywhere are fed up actrocities supported by their own governments.
Thanks to everyone who made our public event, “Except Palestine: Law, Humanity, and Politics” possible at
@LSEnews
tonight: speakers, organizers, volunteers, staff, audience members, and supporters of our freedom to discuss everything—including Palestine.
@LSEHumanRights
While the urban/rural divide is very real in Afghanistan, even within those categories there are important variations (put simply, not all urban Afghans are elite and wealthy!)
Talked to one of these women. She said many were factory workers in Herat.
They worked for 2$/day. Many were the sole breadwinners.
Now they are told they may be out of a job.
Women's rights are not fancy things for the urban elites. They are what many women need to survive.
Aljazeera's insightful piece on the Afghan economy in crisis. There are barely any funds to support public spending, the seeds of economic disaster.
@harounrahimi1
great insights.
We are back!
@SLSA_UK
highlight with Dr Nafay Choudhury (University of Oxford), winner of the Socio-Legal Article Prize 2022, discussing his article 'Order in the Bazaar: The Transformation of Non-state Law in Afghanistan’s Premier Money Exchange Market'
So proud to learn that my wife, Farhana, is the recipient of the 2021 Paula Kantor Award from the
@ICRW
!
May Paula's efforts live on through a new generation of researchers who continue to research on gender & development in the global south & empower others through their work!
My article "Transacting on Trust: The Regulation of Trade Credit by Afghanistan’s Money Exchangers" has just been published in Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems.
The article was fortunate to receive the journal's Trandafir Writing Award. 1/
"Surely it is absurd to claim...that organizing to “smash” South Africa’s apartheid state was a genocidal campaign against white South Africans. It’s just absurd."
@NoahZatz
provides excellent legal analysis on the efforts to silence Palestine advocacy
I had an online presentation an Afghan university last week, and the talk was limited to 45 mins as provided to free zoom accounts.
Given the current economic crisis, it wouldn't hurt billion dollars corps to provide these services free to learning institutions in the country.
This marks my last week with the
@OxfordCSLS
at
@UniofOxford
. I've had such an enriching year amongst amazing colleagues - look forward to continuing our many interesting discussions! (I'll be an Associate Member for AY23/24)
Hawala (informal money) transfers have played a crucial role for decades in allowing Afghans abroad to support family members in Afghanistan. However, even those channels are blocked at the moment.
And average Afghans suffer.
My article "The Regulation of Informal Trade Credit (Ograyi) in Afghanistan" is available online!
The article examines the non-legal practices that facilitate the creation, circulation, and regulation of informal trade credit or “ograyi” in Afghanistan.
Excited to be joining the Centre for Global Knowledge Studies (
@gloknos
) - a fantastic forum to reflect on the global production, deployment and transformation of knowledge. Looking forward to this academic year!
This
@guardian
article is extremely important to understand to atrocities incurred by foreign force in
#Afghanistan
.
The British unit had an "alleged policy to terminate “all fighting-age males” in homes raided, “regardless of the threat they posed”."
Foreign journalists interviewing ex-gov officials abt what unfolded in Afghanistan, please google your interviewees first to see how many rape cases, corruption charges, human rights abuses, drug & human trafficking cases they have.
Sincerely,
People of Afghanistan
As the world moves in on sanctioning the Taliban, some 38 million risk getting caught in the crosshairs.
Economic crisis is fast gripping the country. Aid assistance is urgently needed. The cost of most goods is up 50% (100% for gas and oil)
En route to
@law_soc
LSA Lisbon! Looking forward to meeting many people I've "met" online over the past 2 years.
Hoping for many quasi-random hello-turn-conversations.
And shout out to all those who can't make it - you're not forgotten!
For UK PhD vivas, I honestly feel we need to change minor/major "revisions" to "additions".
"Revisions" are separate from the PhD's quality.
Many shoddy PhDs get no revision (tipping point for me was seeing a CV mention "no revision" as if its a distinction)
#AcademicTwitter
As grief and despair set in, remember:
There is no reason to believe tonight/tomorrow will be any better for Gazans and every reason to believe things will get worse
Gazans are drinking sewage
I believe gratitude requires recognizing the countless individuals - largely in the global South - who shine a light on my ignorance by pushing me to view the world differently!
#alhamdulillah
Join us on MONDAY at 2:00 p.m. ET for a
#free
webinar on how to move beyond the current situation to harness potential for female education, women’s economic empowerment, and cultural heritage preservation.
Register HERE ➡️
Academics should more seriously think about making course outlines based fully on open access and pirated materials.
That's a step to decolonize academia.
🧵1/ We are deeply disturbed that
@Harvard_Press
issued a DMCA takedown order against Z Library, a so-called "pirate" library that provides critical access to knowledge across the world to those who can't afford access, nor can their universities.
A real pleasure visiting
@icp_edupak
Islamia College Peshawar in Northern Pakistan to learn from students and faculty and to discuss my research. Such inspiring students! Thank you for the invitation Professor Dr. Raza Ullah.
Also, a stunningly beautiful camp!
First up, the SLSA Article Prize!
Nafay Choudhury
@nafayc
, ‘Order in the Bazaar: The Transformation of Non-State Law in Afghanistan’s Premier Money Exchange Market’ (2021), Law and Social Inquiry
Congratulations to Dr Farhana Rahman (aka my wife) who is amongst the new cohort of Leverhulme Early Career Fellows and will be based at
@Dept_of_POLIS
/
@CambridgeGender
!
One of the Trust’s most popular, long-running and successful schemes, Early Career Fellowships offer a bridge into an academic career for researchers with a proven research record. Congratulations to the 2022 cohort, the full list of which is now online:
"We are offering Afghans, resident outside of Afghanistan, the opportunity to apply for a Chevening Scholarship or Fellowship to study in the UK."
Disgraceful.
The UK adds to local suffering of Afghans by excluding in-country applicants.
Canada strongly condemns the current terrorist attacks against Israel. These acts of violence are completely unacceptable. We stand with Israel and fully support its right to defend itself. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this. Civilian life must be protected.
Palestinian women in the al-Shati refugee camp can be heard screaming for help in one of the few videos that have come out from Gaza in the early hours of Saturday, during the intense Israeli bombardment and amid a total blackout
🎥Wissam Nassar
In the coming days, it'll be important to understand the workings of nonstate legal orders in Afghanistan.
My
@LSI_Journal
article involves a study of Afghanistan's central money exchange market and shows the interdependence of state and nonstate laws.
“Fostering world-class teaching & research at St Catharine’s gives our Fellows space in which they can develop their ideas & capabilities" – wishing a fond farewell to Fellows
@mairikilkenny
, Dr Johannes Pauch &
@nafayc
as they join other institutions:
Now in Cambridge for the super interesting and topical workshop on Law and the Constitutive Idea and just bumped into the amazing
@nafayc
who showed me around! A critical and socio-legal day for me.
I'm pleased to share a study I prepared for
@RESCUEorg
(co-author
@FayezSahak
) on the Afghan banking sector.
It assesses of the current state of financial services in Afghanistan and provides likely scenarios in the coming 3-6 months.
Welcome to China Town Kabul!
China has been seizing the opportunity to spread is economic (and political) influence in Afghanistan over the past year. The market sells goods imported from China and destined for the Afghan market.
My respect to decolonial scholars who speak up NOW!
But with others silent, we need to discuss "commodifying the decolonial". Many brilliant scholars treat it as an artefact of the past. Beyond rhetoric, it creates no sense of solidarity but rather promotes personal politics.
The loss and suffering of reporters in Gaza is indescribable.
It is only through their tremendous sacrifice we know the details of the genocide unfolding.
No exaggerating - this is the best piece I've read to date explaining how the sanctions on
#Afghanistan
's central bank are a form of economic imperialism.
Moreover, the discourse of humanitarianism only contributes to the ongoing subjugation of Afghanistan (& invariably its ppl)
Guys what the US is doing to Afghanistan through sanctions is bananas (technical legal term) and I wrote something about it so that more people pay attention:
Great opportunity at Journal of Rejection: "You can send your manuscript here without suffering waves of anxiety regarding the eventual fate of your submission. You know with 100% certainty that it will not be accepted for publication."
It's in markets like this - the mobile phone market of Kabul - that one sees the Afghan economy at work. Business is unsurprisngly down but shops remain resilient. These economic actors can help stabilize the economy in the long run. The Union provides market-level governance.
The economy of
#Afghanistan
is facing tremendous stress with tens of millions of people caught in the crosshairs.
Here on
@NPR
's Marketplace, I discuss the Afghan economy, the banking sector, and the country's money exchangers.
Here, I unpack
@SIGARHQ
and US Empire.
While the SIGAR has done excellent work in monitoring US efforts in
#Afghanistan
, it also sustains US Empire as it reinforces the legitimacy of the mission that it seeks to hold to account. 1/
@inkstickmedia
Intriguing private sector development in Kabul. New stalls for small businesses (unclear if registered). The confluence of urban design and efforts at building social capital
The central argument is that a private community, even in a fragile setting, may be capable of maintaining an autonomous non-state legal system not in spite of, but rather by depending on, the state.
My central claim: “...if Da Afghanistan Bank and the international community give [exchangers] the support they need, they will continue to play a crucial role in ensuring that businesses stay afloat and money continues to circulate in the country.” 2/
I share your utter dismay.
However, I'm loathe to think how this unfolding tragedy will feed academic (& political) careers for decades as they "lament", write analyses, then analyses of analyses & finally champion human rights (till the next tragedy bring out silence.. again..)
Here's my book review in Law & Society Review
@law_soc
of "Shari'a, Inshallah" by
@ProfMassoud
. Massoud shows how religion - rather that enacted state law - may be crucial for building the rule of law in war torn societies like Somalia and Somaliland.
The 2022 Asian Law and Society Association annual meeting has just begun in Hanoi, Vietnam. The ALSA President Lynette Chua is giving the presidential address.
Afghanistan is one of the few countries where money exchangers operate as a national/global institution, alongside formal banks. In 2019, the loans provided by exchangers in Kabul’s central market alone was double the volume of loans provided by ALL commercial banks. 3/
It merits being repeated how schizophrenic int'l development projects were. On the inside, people unquestioningly assumed their merit (or sought to extract as much as possible). It was a like burning house but everyone inside was too busy partying away.
Such an important piece by
@Sarah_Chayes
on the rot of corruption the international project brought to Afghanistan.
The US and other donors fueled this status quo for years. There are many causes of the continued insurgency - but this is a big one.
Just got the "brown treatment" from a border officer in Hanoi airport.
(It's a bit annoying - dare I say amusing - and corruption can never be justified though my thought on this are more complex due to issues of global inequality)
Ops...
It's easy to blame the janitor or even the subcontracted cleaning company.
Instead, this is a symptom capitalist obsession: outsourcing tasks --> reducing costs --> misaligned interests arise --> (finally) OPS!
We knew this would happen. Targeting journalists and their families. Sickening.
I take back one of my previous posts - they don't need a Nobel prize or sweeping commendations. Rather, THEY NEED TO LIVE!!!
lsrael is punishing journalists in Gaza by killing their families:
Journalist Mohammed Alaloul lost 4 of his children in the lsraeli bombing last night.
What a powerful message! The authors speak out against their own former organization (!) which failed to live up to its own standards by betraying so many women on the ground in Afghanistan.
We could all learn from such integrity
Open letter to
@wawhumanrights
(WAW) from me and my co-founder and sister
@sunitasunitav
, in which we set the record straight about our current focus and priorities, and why we are no longer part of WAW.
This shows tolerance. Evidence of change. It is important to update our priors in the face of new evidence. A lot more needs to be done to demonstrate commitment to diversity but this is a good sign.
Utterly disgusting. But not surprising.
After killing 4500+ babies, forcing 39 babies off ventilators (2 died so far) & targeting the hospital with snipers, the perpetrating colonial state is suddenly the saviour.
Settler-colonial violence involves controlling the narrative.
Shame on
@BBCBreaking
for this wholly misleading headline, giving the impression that Israel is “helping” babies rather than bombing and starving them to death. Yet another example of the BBC’s distorted reporting
#ceasefireNOW
#FreePalestine
A real fascinating conversation this morning with Fernanada, Bettina and Rhian at
#SLSA2021
- it was an excellent conversation between legal and empirical domains.
The Sociology of Law stream continues tomorrow morning with papers by Fernanda Pirie, Bettina Lange and Rhian Powell. Looking forward to the session 4.
@CardiffLaw
@SLSA_UK
#SLSA2021
@CLS_Cardiff
This looks really intriguing! I once asked about the colonial tendancies of comparative law at a conference though no one had thoroughly thought the matter through. I hope this opens up a much needed discussion.
Now published in Rabels Zeitschrift, in open access (a first for the journal): Lena Salaymeh and I attempt to formulate what
#decolonialcomparativelaw
could be.
Fruit sellers and the Taliban in Kabul. This shows the complexity of the situation. Millions have no choice but to continue with daily lives, whatever the regime.
Assurance of peace is crucial at the moment to maintain stability.
"Islamic law" like "democracy" can protect ideological diversity just as it can be a tool of oppression. Taliban must be pressed to embrace the former given Afghanistan's diverse population and views.
How Muslims should live their lives to please Allah and obtain salvation, & what rules the state should be allowed to enforce are not the same question (1/3)
My Op-Ed on What the Taliban may be getting wrong about Islamic governance via
@AJEnglish
Sound on: Premature babies at al-Shifa crying desperately for help! They're running out of time...
4th day of the Israeli siege on al-Shifa. No food, water, electricity or aid allowed in. Israel had surgically bombed the hospital's solar panels. The hospital is inoperative!
Hello and welcome to the newest members of Catz! We’re admitting 259 new members for the new academic year, including a Fellow and two Junior Research Fellows (pictured), 112 postgraduates and 144 undergraduates:
@nafayc
@AndrzejHarris
Great opportunities for anyone in the global North or South to take an online course on International Criminal Law!
@RiClements
is the perfect instructor. Will have a lot of great discussions for sure!
We are very honoured to introduce the convenor of the Lecture Cycle & Discussion Group!
Dr Richard Clements (
@RiClements
) is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Tilburg Law School, and Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for Global Law & Policy, Harvard Law School.
This first pic captures the formality/informality interface. Kabul municipality has converted many informal 'Karachi' stalls (in blue/red) into new stalls (that sellers pay for). This cost, taxes, and low demand have dampened the mood of sellers whose produce slowly rots away.
From a while back but still so relevant.
"It is time to start over with an approach to promoting wellbeing in foreign countries that is empirical rather than ideological."
Read: more critical engagement needed between human rights & socio-legal studies.
What a fantastic handbook on a topic whose importance is continually being re-invited!
Stellar author line-up covering a wide range of topics.
An invaluable resource!
Calm is when Gaza is bombed, villages are invaded, homes are bulldozed, journalists are shot, ambulances are attacked, mosques are vandalized, schools are tear-gassed, and Palestinians are massacred
Calm shattered is when Palestinians finally respond